Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Labour Party, I join all my colleagues in the House in expressing our appreciation for the honourable service of two very distinguished former Members and in offering our deepest condolences to the families, friends, and political party of both Richie Ryan and John Browne.

Richie Ryan was well known across Ireland for decades. My own political mentor, Brendan Corish, was Tánaiste in that famous Government that ran from 1973 to 1977 in which Richie Ryan was a distinguished Minister for Finance in the most difficult of times. I myself know something about trying to manage finances in difficult times. I know the sort of pressures that were on him. I recall conversations I had with Brendan Corish subsequently. He held Richie Ryan in enormously high regard and considered him to have courageously done right by the country regardless of the pressures on him. That is the sort of service that ultimately stands to a person. His family can be extraordinarily proud of him.

I am wryly amused at some of the titles Richie Ryan accrued in his life in politics, one of which was "Red Richie". From a Labour Party perspective he may not have earned that title but his Government did introduce a wealth tax. I believe it was "Hall's Pictorial Weekly" that determined he merited that title. I imagine he was quite amused by it himself.

Others have said that he was a pathfinder for Ireland in Europe. As a new member of what was then the European Community, Ireland needed people of his experience, calibre and vision to reach out within the European institutions, especially the European Parliament which was embryonic at that stage. He then served as a distinguished member of the European Court of Auditors because of his incredible experience.

One thing which has not been mentioned is his legal work. He took on, pro bono, some important legal cases that changed the course of history here. Some of his legal challenges helped to broaden the rights base of all our citizens, which gave rise to what are now known as unenumerated rights under the Constitution. In many ways these invited the courts to advance the rights base of all our citizens. He had many dimensions as a public servant. If any of us could look back on a career with that level of public service, we would do so with a great sense of pride. I send my deepest condolences and those of the Labour Party to Richie Ryan's family, friends, and party.

I knew John Browne. He and I came into the House by the same means at the same time. We were both Taoiseach's nominees to the Seanad way back in 1983. Getting a Taoiseach's nomination is a very easy route by which to get into politics. One just needs the vote of one individual.

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